The Awesomes

The more superhero stories pervade our TVs and movie screens, the more room there is for superhero parodies.

The latest one is created by SNL head writer and comic book geek Seth Meyers who created this show along with his Saturday Night Live cohorts and populated with a cast of mostly SNL talent along with his brother Josh (Mad TV).

The hero, Prock, is a mild-mannered guy who ranks towards the bottom of the barrel of all the world's superheroes (this is a world overwrought with superpowered-humans who are all organized in a full-on bureaucracy that's part of the satire) but has a lot of smarts and when his dad announces his retirement, he goes on to lead a ragtag group of misfits. It's the kind of plot you've seen in all kinds of stuff from "Sky High" to "Mystery Men" to the "Misfits" to a comic book that Taran Killam just wrote.

The show is really clever in the way that I'd expect from an SNL head writer and gets its satirical jabs in where it can get them.

The problem is generally that many of the characters are weak and uninteresting and, well, those characters take up a lot of the screen time. Taran Killam plays a one-note redneck speedster, Keenan Thompson plays a mama's boy who sounds like Kenan Thompson always does, Bobby Lee plays a boy who turns into sumo wrestler. His character being the kid on the team seems like it has some potential to be any sort of character dynamic but it's quickly dropped.

Ike Barinholtz is moderately potential-filled as the sidekick, and a lot of the more interesting characters come from outside the superhero team: Bill Hader as supervillain Malocchio and Josh Meyers as rival Prock.

Interestingly enough, a couple of SNL's writers Emily Spivey and Paula Pell voice characters here. Pell's character is equally one-note with a moderately gross angle about an old woman being sexy and Spivey's character, a super-secretary of sorts with a charming Southern accent named concierge is the kind of character who feels like she belongs in a more well-rounded cast.

I liked that this show is trying to be it's own thing, It's edgy but does not overdue it, like The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park,American Dad to name a few. Most certainly not for kids, even though it's not overly vulgar, the show is for adults. basically spoofing Justice League, The Avengers, and X-Men. The humor mostly on the superhero foul ups, and the funny issues of the characters. I'm surprised that this is not on Adult Swim, it's a very funny show, and enjoyable. It's proof you don't have to count on gross out gags to be funny. That's what animated shows started to depend on lately. The animation is pretty descent, not high art. I really hope this will be on a while.

Just got into it 6/22/2018 and i hate that it ends after 30 episodes, this show should at least get 100 episodes its humor is so funny and i love how the cast is a mix of my favorite SNL and MadTV Cast Members PLEASE BRING THIS AWESOME SHOW BACK

• Adam Lally Aka Dudja Aka SmokeyMcPot420

The show has a great cast, and a great premise. I'd say it's relatively enjoyable to watch, not necessarily funny, but enjoyable nonetheless. Its main issues are in a few character's voice acting and a few sections of writing. Although Malocchio had very strong acting, Prock's is far too monotonous and dull. Just unbelievably cringe- inucing for the first season. It gets progressively less so as the series progresses, but it is an issue that persists throughout the entire series in some capacity. Ultimately, its most prominent issue lies in the actual action sequences. The show seems like it's supposed to be satirical, but it actually tries to be serious in the fight sequences. It comes across as forced, and just generally childish in comparison to most of the show. However, when it does attempt to stick by satire, it is far stronger. In summary, the show is enjoyable, but it get's a fair bit better as the series progresses. I wouldn't call it "great", but it's fun, and worth a watch.

I have to admit, I'm unsure who the target audience is, and maybe I'm exactly who it was made for, but I think this is great. As a longtime superhero fan, and a gamer (and admittedly a superhero RPG player), I think they nailed the misfit Hero concept pretty comfortably. I agree with the other review (there's only one at the time I'm writing this) that it could be edgier, and it could probably be made to appeal more broadly (how many viewers have ever participated in a tabletop Superhero themed RPG, really?), but unless it's trying to be, or compete with Family Guy, it's probably OK with what it is.

I can't see the show being around long, which is the biggest reason I didn't give it a higher review. I think it would be a bigger hit if, honestly, there were less focus on Prock, and a decent bit more about each member of the team, and if they could isolate a target audience. That's why Drawn Together worked, despite being seen as crude, sick, stupid, and random (in my unabbreviated opinion). They knew who their audience was.

I hope the writers read this. I would love to see The Awesomes stick around.